Pain and Hitting The Wall
When I told my twin brother (who competed alongside me for many, many years) that I was going to run the Oakland Marathon he replied "why would you want to go through all that pain again?". I was surprised by his response because firstly, he was my main and most feared competitor in high school, and secondly, I had never thought of pain in that way before. Sacrifice, dedication and commitment for sure, but pain?
I have been thinking about that conversation for months now. More recently, while I was on a run the other day, I happened to slow down and talk with a runner going in my direction and as we talked a bit we were telling each other how long we had been running and what events we ran in. He said "I could never break five minutes in the mile in high school because I was not good at handling pain" then he said that I must have a high tolerance for pain for being able to go under five minutes in the mile. I started to think that this might be a subject that many people probably have been thinking about (or experiencing right now) especially with the Marathon or Half Marathon looming and many who have never run that distance before, the training involved, and the much feared words "hitting the wall" or "pain" that is associated with this particular journey.
Have you ever thought about the difference between good pain and bad pain? Good pain is being able to move through it without the long lasting complications like an injury (a stitch in your side while running for instance- which is painful and most times can be worked out). Bad pain would be continuing to run when a part of your muscle, or joint feels like it is on fire (inflamed), and you continue pressing on and ignoring what is really going on to attain your goal. After recuperating from my Achilles tendinitis injury (complete rest for 10 days with icing, ibuprofen and elevation), I followed with a gradual start on the mileage and specific stretches to the injured area. With the continued dedication of yoga (the ultimate balance to running) I was able to get back on course with the training schedule. I always think of injuries as the only way for me to stop dead in my tracks to see what is really going on and bring me the opportunity to slow down and go deep into my body and allowing me the time to look and see what is going on, what is sore, what is not, and more importantly is this pain or intense sensations. Most of my injuries in the past are usually a result of my reckless actions that I have always taken with my body.
Have I ever hit the wall in running? ALL THE TIME when I am pushing myself to my limits. I have also run past the wall in a marathon (without even knowing it was there) but I have also crashed (and burned!) at the wall in other various races. You don't have to be running a marathon to hit a wall.
I have always thought pain as being being the antithesis to pleasure and how sometimes the lines between the two can blur or be right up against each other. Personally, I find that the human condition of suffering, and constant emotional loss or tragic events that happen all around us are much harder to cope with then the pain incurred in either long distance or middle distance competitive running. Of course there are people with low and high pain thresholds, just as there are those who have debilitating injuries and need daily pain medication and those that don't. This is very different from pushing oneself to the limits that their body can either give them or that they believe is possible to reach when healthy. I want to open up a dialogue on how others deal with pain, how they cope with it, and to voice their opinions, stories, thoughts and comments.
If you want more information on "hitting the wall" just type in that phrase into your web browser and many links will appear.
Today I ran 6 miles for the third straight day resting only the day after the 20 mile run by walking 3 miles. I felt tired, but my legs have never felt stronger. This is the first time in a long, long time that I can see a transformation in my body that I have not seen in a long while. During the Sunday run, I was thinking I was doing pretty well hanging in there with the younger runners, but somewhere close to the 15 mile marker- I was joined with runners 10 and 20 years older looking incredibly strong. It gave me yet another perspective on aging.
I have been thinking about that conversation for months now. More recently, while I was on a run the other day, I happened to slow down and talk with a runner going in my direction and as we talked a bit we were telling each other how long we had been running and what events we ran in. He said "I could never break five minutes in the mile in high school because I was not good at handling pain" then he said that I must have a high tolerance for pain for being able to go under five minutes in the mile. I started to think that this might be a subject that many people probably have been thinking about (or experiencing right now) especially with the Marathon or Half Marathon looming and many who have never run that distance before, the training involved, and the much feared words "hitting the wall" or "pain" that is associated with this particular journey.
Have you ever thought about the difference between good pain and bad pain? Good pain is being able to move through it without the long lasting complications like an injury (a stitch in your side while running for instance- which is painful and most times can be worked out). Bad pain would be continuing to run when a part of your muscle, or joint feels like it is on fire (inflamed), and you continue pressing on and ignoring what is really going on to attain your goal. After recuperating from my Achilles tendinitis injury (complete rest for 10 days with icing, ibuprofen and elevation), I followed with a gradual start on the mileage and specific stretches to the injured area. With the continued dedication of yoga (the ultimate balance to running) I was able to get back on course with the training schedule. I always think of injuries as the only way for me to stop dead in my tracks to see what is really going on and bring me the opportunity to slow down and go deep into my body and allowing me the time to look and see what is going on, what is sore, what is not, and more importantly is this pain or intense sensations. Most of my injuries in the past are usually a result of my reckless actions that I have always taken with my body.
Have I ever hit the wall in running? ALL THE TIME when I am pushing myself to my limits. I have also run past the wall in a marathon (without even knowing it was there) but I have also crashed (and burned!) at the wall in other various races. You don't have to be running a marathon to hit a wall.
I have always thought pain as being being the antithesis to pleasure and how sometimes the lines between the two can blur or be right up against each other. Personally, I find that the human condition of suffering, and constant emotional loss or tragic events that happen all around us are much harder to cope with then the pain incurred in either long distance or middle distance competitive running. Of course there are people with low and high pain thresholds, just as there are those who have debilitating injuries and need daily pain medication and those that don't. This is very different from pushing oneself to the limits that their body can either give them or that they believe is possible to reach when healthy. I want to open up a dialogue on how others deal with pain, how they cope with it, and to voice their opinions, stories, thoughts and comments.
If you want more information on "hitting the wall" just type in that phrase into your web browser and many links will appear.
Today I ran 6 miles for the third straight day resting only the day after the 20 mile run by walking 3 miles. I felt tired, but my legs have never felt stronger. This is the first time in a long, long time that I can see a transformation in my body that I have not seen in a long while. During the Sunday run, I was thinking I was doing pretty well hanging in there with the younger runners, but somewhere close to the 15 mile marker- I was joined with runners 10 and 20 years older looking incredibly strong. It gave me yet another perspective on aging.
posted by Tomba at 9:39 AM
1 Comments:
Meanwhile, last week I talked to my psychiatrist about the medication issue, which is, in a nutshell: On meds, I'm more socially comfortable and people seem more comfortable around me. But I don't write as much or as well. Off meds, I write much better, but my social relationships become more difficult. My shrink, who firmly believes I have to be on meds for the rest of my life -- even though I haven't been on them for most of my life -- said, "Okay, so this is what you have to figure out. Do you want to live in the safe box and have more friends, or do you want to be a passionate artist at the price of pushing some people away?"
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